Good wholesome homecooked food is, without a doubt, the best way to eat. But, after a long hard day working, or just generally being bust and attending to all your responsibilities, chopping vegetables and standing over a boiling pot does not fill you with enthusiasm. This is completely understandable and leads to reliance on oven or microwave food, or worse still, always ordering takeout. If you want t reignite a passion for cooking and make healthier meals for you and your family, you need to get more enjoyment out of cooking. The good news s that there are a lot of ways you can do this. To help you out, we have listed a few below:
Concentrate on Your Cooking Environment
Yes, the kitchen could be the reason you have lost your love of cooking. If it were a place you actually wanted to spend time, then you would find it a lot easier to cook up a storm. Maybe you’re in the position to completely revamp your kitchen. Ripping out the old one and installing a brand-new one can definitely help you find the inspiration to cook. But, if not, you may need to find other, less expensive, and more creative ways to upgrade your kitchen. First of all, is there a decent sitting area? This may be an issue for smaller kitchens, and if this is a problem you have, why not look for space-saving tables and chairs? Consider where you have your pots and pans, are they located need the stove? Can you put hooks up on the wall and hang them within arm’s reach? How about repainting and cleaning any mold on the grout between the tiles? Consider installing a new backsplash and putting up a few floating shelves where you can display some ornaments. You can always upgrade your fauces, handles, door knobs, and kitchen blinds. When you start investigating all the things you can do, you may be surprised by the number of things available.
Mix Up Your Spices
If you have a habit of only using the same herbs and spices, or have a tendency towards bland foods, then maybe it is time you started experiments with all the different types of herbs and spices out there. Maybe you could buy a couple of new ones every week, or just go wild and buy a lot. Start mixing spices together, marinate that chicken, and discover new flavors that you and the family can enjoy. You could get the kids involved and start mixing spices and testing them out. See who’s brave enough to try the new flavor first. If you do this enough, you are bound to find a few gems; just remember to write down the recipes. Another way to make this more interesting for children is to start growing your own. Perhaps you could have some on the windowsill in the kitchen, or how about creating a vertical garden outside? Teach the kids about the plants and get them to pluck a few leaves when the time is right. This can be educational and fun.
Search For New Things.
If you really want to get more enjoyment out of cooking, then why not go on a hunt for new things? This could be recipes, themes, ingredients, ways of cooking, or anything that you fancy. For example, one pretty easy way to get a little more experimental is to buy that strange vegetable you never buy in the supermarket. Learn about it, discover what it is and where it came from originally, the conditions that it grows in, and most of all, find great recipes that use it. Another way to try new things is to create a themed night. You could have Wednesdays being a Mexican night. So, every Wednesday, you or one of your kids come up with a recipe that you all create together. Maybe you could go the whole hog and suggest Mexican music and costume just to make it that little bit more authentic. There are always plenty of recipes out there for whatever theme you choose, like this Tacos al Pastor recipe online. You could hunt about in very old cookery books you find at the local library and choose a page at random, and you have to make that meal. When it comes to ways of cooking, why not investigate if there are any new kitchen gadgets on the marketplace, or how about dusting off the old slow cooker? Finding new things is a great way to mix things up and make it more fun.
